IH no. 45 baler

[Haykid]

First off I know everyone hated these balers but I found it on auction for less than 100 bucks so I couldn’t pass on it and have enjoyed tinkering on it as I only bale a acre of hay so it works for me. Anyways when I bought it the bale chute was bent all to heck and I don’t think it was the right size to begin with. Does anyone on here have a 45 baler that could send me a couple pictures and dimensions of the bale chute. Also if anyone has gotten one running well and has any tips and tricks it would be much appreciated. Thanks,
Haykid

 

[560Dennis]

First off who’s every one ?

 

[used red MN]

First off who’s every one ?

No acceptance of allowing him to use a figure speech?

 

[used red MN]

Since 14” x 18” bales are common throughout the IH baler line just about any baler they made would likely have a very similar bale chute configuration. If you were somewhere around NE KS I could probably give you the chute parts of a 47, they have had some welding done on them. If you’re not an “old cermudgen” that thinks the government and the major part of the population are aiming to seek you out steal all your stuff and make your existence miserable then add your location to your profile. It can be helpful in many situations.

 

[Haykid]

Alright I will add my location thanks I wasn’t sure how to do that when I first made my account so I’ll add that. Thanks. As far as everyone I had done some research and found that very few people liked them so I just said everyone since that was a general consensus as far as what I found online

 

[560Dennis]

Do you have the owner manual, blue ribbon twine knotter shop manual . Found they will help you get hay in and bales out o your 75 year old machine .eBay has some manuals that are reasonable prices , To get you started.
I follow the manual for lubricatio. The best way ,is to rotate baler by hand power so to find out if there are not any mechanical interference. Don’t want to ,snap any keys pin and lose the timing. trying to save from large and costly repairs. power it up and run some bales through it after the maintenance. See what happens ask more questions.

 

[Duner Wi]

We had 2 new 45s. Great balers but rather poor at making knots. . If you didn't need tied bales they were great . Not many balers around in later 40s.

 

[JimB2]

Make sure the needle safety dog is coming up into the bale chamber when the knotter cycles, common for the spring under the bale chamber that latches the dog would break and if a stick or something got in the bale chamber and plunger would crash into the needles.

Check the video at this link:

Baler knotter tool

Was wondering if there was any of you with an extensive library could find the part number of this tool. Just stumbled upon a YouTube video with this device ... I never knew such a thing existed. I still can't transfer URL numbers from my phone , I would appreciate it if you googled this video.

www.redpowermagazine.com

 

[Janicholson]

Welcome to YT forums and PartsASAP. If you still have the old chute, take it to a metal fabrication shop and they can make one. I would use a steel that was next thicker than OEM. We had one when it was only 15 years old. it made thousands of heavy bales. The knotter was fussy about the type of twine, and required some effort, but for 100, there good reason to play with it. You may find yourself looking for more hay to make. Jim

 

[Fritz Maurer]

I have an original chute, I'll take pictures tomorrow.
If it's tying now, great. One major cause of missed knots in the beginning of the season is rust inside the the needle tubes. During the tying cycle, at the instant the needles change direction at the top of their stroke, the twine must be held taught to stay in the proper position in the twine disc as the needles recede... accomplished by the spring loaded arms on the twine boxes. If the tubes are rusty, the twine arms cannot overcome the friction in the tubes and the needles carry the twine with them a short distance , just enough to create some slack and get out of the notch on the twine disc, = missed knot.

With the needles halfway through the bale chamber pointing straight up, fill the needle tubes with oil from a squirt can , and the twine will wick up the oil and preserve the polish inside the tubes.

See if the knotter service book is still available from CNH, or maybe Jensales might have it.

Loosen the slip clutch bolts on the front of the flywheel once a year , put a piece of firewood between the plunger knives to stall the plunger, and operate the PTO until the clutch smokes. Remove the wood , tighten the bolts and go on your way. It is a real mother to change the shear bolt if you break it because of a seized slip clutch ; you need this to work.

The 45 was built in the era of 7 foot mowers; 9 feet of hay CAN be put through it, if done carefully. If you crowd it, the clutch will slip because of the virtually nonexistent flywheel.

 

[Jim in LA]

There are some really good videos on YouTube on hay baler knotter repair and how they work. They are truly a mechanical marvel.

 

[Haykid]

Do you have the owner manual, blue ribbon twine knotter shop manual . Found they will help you get hay in and bales out o your 75 year old machine .eBay has some manuals that are reasonable prices , To get you started.
I follow the manual for lubricatio. The best way ,is to rotate baler by hand power so to find out if there are not any mechanical interference. Don’t want to ,snap any keys pin and lose the timing. trying to save from large and costly repairs. power it up and run some bales through it after the maintenance. See what happens ask more questions.

I do have the owners manual and I also
Have a service manual. I’m thinking it has the blue ribbon knotter shop manual in it but I’ll check

 

[Haykid]

Welcome to YT forums and PartsASAP. If you still have the old chute, take it to a metal fabrication shop and they can make one. I would use a steel that was next thicker than OEM. We had one when it was only 15 years old. it made thousands of heavy bales. The knotter was fussy about the type of twine, and required some effort, but for 100, there good reason to play with it. You may find yourself looking for more hay to make. Jim

Yes I’m finding out the hard way that once I’ve gotten into old tractors and equipment that I just keep wanting more things to try and save from the scrap yard and tinker with lol

 

[Haykid]

I have an original chute, I'll take pictures tomorrow.
If it's tying now, great. One major cause of missed knots in the beginning of the season is rust inside the the needle tubes. During the tying cycle, at the instant the needles change direction at the top of their stroke, the twine must be held taught to stay in the proper position in the twine disc as the needles recede... accomplished by the spring loaded arms on the twine boxes. If the tubes are rusty, the twine arms cannot overcome the friction in the tubes and the needles carry the twine with them a short distance , just enough to create some slack and get out of the notch on the twine disc, = missed knot.

With the needles halfway through the bale chamber pointing straight up, fill the needle tubes with oil from a squirt can , and the twine will wick up the oil and preserve the polish inside the tubes.

See if the knotter service book is still available from CNH, or maybe Jensales might have it.

Loosen the slip clutch bolts on the front of the flywheel once a year , put a piece of firewood between the plunger knives to stall the plunger, and operate the PTO until the clutch smokes. Remove the wood , tighten the bolts and go on your way. It is a real mother to change the shear bolt if you break it because of a seized slip clutch ; you need this to work.

The 45 was built in the era of 7 foot mowers; 9 feet of hay CAN be put through it, if done carefully. If you crowd it, the clutch will slip because of the virtually nonexistent flywheel.

Thank you very much. Everything of what you said makes total sense and I will be sure to do this. I tried it out a little last year and noticed that a 9’ windrow was almost a little much for it and that if you got a little much it didn’t have hardly any power to shove it through like any other baler I’ve ran

 

[560Dennis]

I do have the owners manual and I also
Have a service manual. I’m thinking it has the blue ribbon knotter shop manual in it but I’ll check

Very good , I’m confident you can make it work for your needs . We did 65 years ago so , cant wait to heer your success story.
Our baler had a timing issue on the left side. Dad correct that . Sorry 65 years ago ,so I was only 11 . But he did give me the book and said to read it and do the maintain to knotter Per manual. I did .
That baler never missed after that Only when it ran out of twine. We used the sisal twine available in 1960s . You will have that success also. Just take your time And follow manual and good maintenance management for a 75 year old machine.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Alright I will add my location thanks I wasn’t sure how to do that when I first made my account so I’ll add that. Thanks. As far as everyone I had done some research and found that very few people liked them so I just said everyone since that was a general consensus as far as what I found online

Yours is not an unreasonable assumption. In most cases when someone can't fix something then the machine is junk, not the operator. They would rather be martyrs, sitting on the twine box of Grandpa's baler, making the knots by hand because no one on the farm had a clue as to what to do about it. I wouldn't doubt that the penny pinching gramps figured it was cheaper to let the grandson tie it for free rather than pay the dealer's service man to come and fix it. Here is the manual I was talking about.View attachment 101642

View attachment 101642

 

[Haykid]

Yours is not an unreasonable assumption. In most cases when someone can't fix something then the machine is junk, not the operator. They would rather be martyrs, sitting on the twine box of Grandpa's baler, making the knots by hand because no one on the farm had a clue as to what to do about it. I wouldn't doubt that the penny pinching gramps figured it was cheaper to let the grandson tie it for free rather than pay the dealer's service man to come and fix it. Here is the manual I was talking about.View attachment 101642View attachment 101643View attachment 101642View attachment 101644

Yeah that’s kinda what I figured if I adjusted everything exactly by the book it should make a bale decently well. If it misses a bale every 20 bales or something it doesn’t bother me as long as it doesn’t miss every other one. I tried it with some straw last year and it seemed to do decent then tried a little hay later and it seemed to miss a bunch so I might have had some of that rust you were talking about. I do have both of the manuals that you sent pictures of I got the digital version from jensales. Thank you for all the help

 

[jwal10]

I had a 45 baler, it was heavy. Ran behind a 300 utility, plenty of power for what the 45 could handle. I had a 46, lighter and a lot better baler. Brother had a 47, junk. I had a 27, very small baler, run by a 1 cyl engine, pulled it with a Farmall B. Actually it was my first baler. I had a 430 all twine, very nice baler. I cleaned the bale chamber out at the start of every field, make sure no dirt stuck in chamber. Loosen tension on last 2-3 bales in last field. Pull the loose bales out and rebale at new field. Never re-bale flakes, tear them apart. Lube everything that called for it, grease and oiled. IHC balers seemed to be finicky on hay feed, make sure it is feeding even to center of chamber, there are adjustments but amount of hay needs to be as even as possible, change ground speed to windrow size. Balers are a frustration, steady even temperament goes a long way. Rain coming, gotta get it done. Keep cool, remember getting it done is better than a break down, slow and steady wins the race....James

 

[Fritz Maurer]

First off I know everyone hated these balers but I found it on auction for less than 100 bucks so I couldn’t pass on it and have enjoyed tinkering on it as I only bale a acre of hay so it works for me. Anyways when I bought it the bale chute was bent all to heck and I don’t think it was the right size to begin with. Does anyone on here have a 45 baler that could send me a couple pictures and dimensions of the bale chute. Also if anyone has gotten one running well and has any tips and tricks it would be much appreciated. Thanks,
Haykid

Lower chute is 37-1/2 inches to the center of the hinge. Upper is 32 inches to center of hinge

 

[Haykid]

View attachment 101682View attachment 101683
Lower chute is 37-1/2 inches to the center of the hinge. Upper is 32 inches to center of hinge

Thank you that’s exactly what I needed appreciate it